After School Crushes
by LordByronMudkippington
Summary: The After School Navigators are no strangers to rocking the house, but now their discussions are heading in a different direction, and the one question is: can they rock their crushes? Inspired by and dedicated to Yellow Galex, because it's all their fault for this. (jk you're awesome :D)


Nico wiped at her forehead with a towel, feeling quite satisfied with how today's practice had gone. It had just been her, Hanayo, and Rin, also known as the After School Navigators, the saviors of rock music. Most were surprised that, out of everyone in the group to delve into the hard and hedonistic lifestyle of rockers, it was those three, but they all relished the thorough destruction of expectations. Okay, so maybe Maki composed the music - under great coercion - but they were the stars here. Let's not forget that.

The three of them were relaxing on the school roof, enjoying the freedom to practice and take breaks at their leisure without the demon drill instructor hiding on this Earth under the guise of Sonoda Umi breathing down their necks. Plus, it made for some nice bonding time, where the thrills of rock and roll allowed them to talk freely amongst themselves.

Today's topic would be of the utmost importance, one that had yet to be discussed with anyone more than likely. With them being true-blooded rock stars and all, surely they each had someone whom they pined after. A patient and loving individual who would wait forever and a day for them to return from their rigorous touring schedule. Or, as their loyal fans might call it, a crush.

"Hanayo." The girl in question looked up at her senior, not yet realizing the embarrassing predicament Nico was about to foist upon her. The innocence of youth was a wonderful thing. "Alright, so this is a very important question, so I want you to give it to me straight."

"O-Okay, Nico-chan. What is it?"

"Who are you crushing on?" Was this really an 'important' question? Hanayo stared at Nico for a moment, digesting what exactly was being asked of her. When it finally registered, her face began to take on a cute shade of crimson, one hand going up to her mouth.

"A-A c-crush?" She had never been asked such a question, and now here it was, out in the open. Was it really time for that? Unfortunately, Rin found this new topic exciting, and jumped in to help.

"Ooh, yes! Are you crushing on someone, Kayochin? I wanna know!" It was so embarrassing though. Yes. Hanayo had never admitted it to anyone, but she did indeed have a crush. It was a slow burn at first, and she wasn't even aware that it was what it was at first, but now it was undeniable, and the mere thought of it caused her blush to gain strength. Her two friends were staring at her with wide eyes, eager to hear the truth. It was embarrassing to admit it, but Nico _did_ say that straight-shooting was the way of a rocker...

"U-Uhm, w-well..." Her voice began to quiet down, enough to where Nico and Rin had to lean in to hear her better. She tapped her fingers nervously against her knees as she revealed one of her closely-guarded secrets. "Y-Yes, I... I do..." They were waiting. It was too late to back out now. She would have given up rice for an entire day to avoid answering this question... Okay, no she wouldn't. "I-It's... M... Maki-chan."

Saying it aloud was truly mortifying, and yet it felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders. That secret was out now, in the care of two people she trusted very much. It actually made her feel better... for a few seconds, until she noticed that both Nico and Rin were staring at her with wide eyes and mouths slightly ajar. What was with those expressions? Were they just shocked, or were they appalled? She knew that Maki and Nico never got along, but Rin always seemed to consider her a good friend.

"M-Maki-chan, huh?" Nico laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. This was admittedly not what she had expected. She had to play it cool, though. After all, she was the senpai here: this was no time to lose her composure. "That's great, really. That's great. So great."

"N-Nico-chan?"

"So great. Rin!" She turned from a clearly-confused Hanayo and directed the conversation right over to the head cat herself. "What about you?"

"E-Eh?! Me?!" Why was Rin so shocked? That _was_ the conversation at hand, the one she'd been so eager to dive into mere moments ago. She couldn't just chicken out now.

"Yes, you. Who's your crush?"

"Ahaha, well, y'see, ah... ahaha." She was stalling, and Nico could tell she was stalling. That was suspicious. Almost as if... nah, it couldn't be. "Kinda... sorta... Ahaha..."

"R-Rin-chan."

"Kayochin?" Rin internally sighed in relief. Good ol' Kayochin, her bestest friend ever, was here to save her from this embarrassing line of questioning.

"I-I'm... I'm curious to know as well."

"Wh-What?!" The betrayal! Who would have guessed the tables would have been so suddenly turned? "Alright, alright!" They certainly knew that she had a crush now, even if she didn't say it explicitly. It usually wouldn't even be a problem to say it out loud, as a matter of fact, but now there was this tiny, little bitty complication. "I, uh, have a crush... on Maki-chan... as well."

If it had been quiet before, it was 'drop a pin and hear it roar' silent now. Her eyes focused on the railing, the wall, and then Nico, not wanting to see if there was unhappiness in Hanayo's eyes. They were crushing on the same person! Would that strain their friendship? Nico was just plain flabbergasted, mouth hanging open and body frozen.

"Y-You too, Rin-chan?" Rin turned to Hanayo and was surprised to not find an ounce of hurt in those eyes: just a lot of curiosity and a bit of embarrassment. That was relieving, enough to put a smile on her face as she nodded. It would have broken her heart if her crush had in any way ruined her and Hanayo's friendship. Relieved, her smile slowly became a grin as she remembered something important. She whipped her head around to stare at Nico, who yelped as if she'd been shot.

"Alright then, Nico-chan. Who's _your_ crush, nya?" Oh boy. Now it was Nico's turn in the spotlight, and she was feeling the pressure. So maybe she had been the one to instigate this entire conversation, but did that really mean she had to answer? The leader was supposed to be shrouded in mystery, after all. No one was going out and clawing down Eli's door asking about _her_ crush. Okay, that one might just be a bit too obvious, but they could at least pretend not to know the most obvious thing on the planet.

"Okay, this is pretty private, you know, and I do have to keep an air of mystery." They were still staring at her. Weren't they supposed to accept what she said at face value? "You see, as a leader-"

"Nico-chan..."

"Having someone waiting for your return is so overrated anyway. There's so much excitement on the road. I don't think we should even go home. Who even suggested that in the first place?"

"Wh-what are you talking about, Nico-chan?" Oh right, that had been only a thought. Dammit.

"Alright, I'm only gonna say this once, so here it comes." Fine, she would admit it. She would let both of them know. It wasn't a big deal, right? They both already spoke of their crushes... who just happened to be the same person. The same stubborn, hard-headed, distant, stupidly pretty...

"Nico-chan, you can't hide by spacing out." Dammit. Well, it was now or never... or maybe later. No, no, it had to be now. She owed it to her loyal juniors.

"The great Nico Nii, in all of her benevolence, has-"

"Nico-chaaaan."

"Alright fine, it's Maki-chan. Are you happy?" Nico crossed her arms and turned away, pretending that her cheeks weren't instantaneously flushed. When she finally looked back, the cycle had been complete, with all three of them having taken turns staring dumbfounded at each other. Not quite befitting the whole 'rock goddesses' thing. "Don't go thinking too much into it, though! It's really for her benefit, after all. I merely want to help that useless panther. You know she nearly burned down the Home Ec room, right?"

"Sh-She just hasn't really needed to cook," Hanayo murmured, remembering that day all too well. She'd lost her favorite apron to the blaze. They went silent after that, none of them sure how to proceed with all this information.

"So what do we do now, nya?" Rin asked the question that they all wanted to ask, but none of them knew the answer to. They still didn't know the answer. How were they to proceed like this? Could this be the end of the After School Navigators? That was probably too dramatic, even for Nico.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Nico stood up suddenly, drawing the attention back to her. "We don't need to fight over Maki-chan!"

"We weren't fighting-"

"I propose an idea. We're all crushing on her, correct?" Two slight nods of agreement accompanied her words. "We'll each get one attempt to woo Maki, and we'll let her decide after that. Can we agree to do that, with no hard feelings between us?"

"Nya! Let's do it!" Rin shouted in excitement, while Hanayo merely nodded shyly. Now they were in agreement. It was time to see who would successfully woo Muse's resident composer. Truly, Maki was never going to be ready for this.

* * *

After school the next day, Maki was in the music room, as she tended to be when she wanted to find a quiet place to be alone. Playing the piano soothed her, and she willingly allowed herself to get lost in the melodies she created, closing her eyes with a tiny smile on her face. Her fingers flew across the keys in practiced rhythm, filling the room with its lovely sound. Opening her eyes upon the conclusion of the piece, she found out that she was no longer alone.

At the door stood Hanayo, leaning against it slightly with eyes closed and a contented smile on her face. How long she had been there Maki didn't know, but she began to wonder if maybe she had fallen asleep. "Ah, Hanayo?" Immediately her eyes opened, and upon noticing that a pair of bemused amethysts were staring, a slight blush reached her cheeks.

"M-Maki-chan! H-Hi, u-uh..." She fumbled for her words, trying to quickly salvage the one chance she was given, as per the Navigator Agreement. Courage was needed in times such as these. She tried to think of what kind of advice Honoka, the esteemed and respected leader of Muse, would have right now.

 _"Remember Hanayo-chan, if the bread was on the floor for less than five seconds, it's still edible!"_

That was not helpful. Swallowing down her inherent shyness, she tugged on the collar of her shirt and tried again. "Th-That was really beautiful. Th-The music, i-it... it was very nice." She swore that she could see a faint blush appear on Maki's cheeks, but the redhead quickly looked away.

"O-Oh, th-thanks, Hanayo."

"W-Would you mind if... if I listened to you play?" That was about as bold as she could get. She wasn't as outgoing as Rin, or as confident as Nico. Doubt started to creep into her mind, and she started to wonder if this was just a really bad idea. Surely someone like Maki would want a girl who was more interesting.

"Sure, if you want." Her eyes widened when Maki agreed, though neither of them could find the ability to make proper eye contact. Fearing that any more words would break the spell of acquiescence, Hanayo quickly walked over and shyly sat down next to Maki, who glanced over once before placing her fingers back on the keys and started playing another song.

The tune was slower and soothing, and Hanayo softly hummed along, making sure to be quiet so as not to disturb Maki's playing. It didn't feel like they needed to say anything, though. The silence wasn't stifling, but calming in its own way. She just liked to be around Maki, even if it was just to listen to her play the piano. The way she put her all into her passions, it was nice to be privileged enough to see her like this, when her expressions weren't so dour. This wasn't something she wanted to lose.

Nico had been so confident that Maki would choose one of them, but that wasn't the only option that could happen. What if she was scared off by them trying to 'woo' her, as Nico put it? Hanayo didn't want to jeopardize all of their friendships just for this. Apparently this train of thought had caused her space out, as a gentle hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality.

"Hanayo, are you okay?" Maki's hand was really warm. Like, really warm. She was able to nod in response, but the rest of her body had gone rigid, and no words were bothering to come up and speak for her. Maki raised an eyebrow, but didn't pry any further, instead looking out the window at the sun that was just beginning its descent. "It's getting kind of late. We should probably get going."

They both stood up and began walking to the door, Hanayo mustering up some words to go with the smile that was forming on her face. "Th-This was really nice, Maki-chan." In this moment, it felt as if it would be okay if Maki wanted to be with either Rin or Nico. As long as she could still spend time with her like this, it would be enough. Maki hummed in agreement, opening the door and stepping out of the room. Before either of them could say another word, however, someone - or something - grabbed Maki's hand and forcefully dragged her towards the school exit.

"A-Ah! What the hell?!" Maki's shocked and indignant shouts echoed up and down the hall as Hanayo stared, frozen. That was one way for things to end.

* * *

"Are you serious?" Maki was glaring, aiming those angry eyes right at one Yazawa "Annoying 24/7" Nico. Despite her constant protests, she had been dragged out of the school, across town, and all the way to the idol shop, which was very Nico, but not exactly very Maki. More than that, she was still pretty miffed at being pulled against her will all the way out here. Nico's grip could be strong when she wanted it to be.

"Well, yeah. That's why we're here." Nico rolled her eyes and pulled Maki into the shop, the redhead by now having given up on trying to escape. She would just have to deal with whatever was going on with Nico for now. Maybe there was some new idol group or something that for whatever reason made her bring Maki along. Nico was always doing weird things like that without explanation.

However, they spent an inordinate amount of time looking at Muse merchandise rather than anything new. While it was flattering - a bit creepy - to see cutouts and key chains of herself being sold, it wasn't all that spectacular. She saw the real version every day in the mirror. When she started to wonder if there was truly a purpose to this whole adventure, Nico jumped in front of her with a grin, her hands behind her back.

"Hey Maki-chan, you know what's better than one Maki?"

"... What?"

Nico's grin widened as she pushed what was hidden behind her back into Maki's face. Sputtering in surprise, Maki pushed back until she was face to face with... herself. Well, 'it' had a very exaggerated and comical expression on its face, and was a lot plusher, but it was definitely supposed to be her. "Two Makis!"

"What in the world is this?" Taking it - herself? - into her hands, she looked over the plush, feeling a hint of warmth reaching her cheeks upon realizing what Nico was saying.

"Duh, it's a plush of you! They started selling those now." Nico disappeared for a moment, then came back again with a new plush, this time of herself, in her hands. "Alright, so I'll take this..." She pulled the Maki plush out of the hands of the real Maki, quickly replacing it with her plush self in return. "... And you take me!"

"One of you is already tough to deal with." Nico stuck her tongue out in response, while Maki merely rolled her eyes, but she didn't put any fight when Nico grabbed her hand and dragged her to the checkout counter. She wondered why she was being made to pay for an homage to Nico's narcissism, but it wasn't _that_ much money, and maybe it was a little bit cute. Just because of the design, though. _Not_ because it was of Nico.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad of a trip. Despite how much of a pain she was all the time, Nico could sometimes be rather thoughtful in her own weird way. First Hanayo, then Nico though: why was she being so sought out all of a sudden?

By the time they got outside her face was bright red and she was trying to keep her Nico plush from being... _assaulted_ by her own plush. This was really weird. "What the hell, Nico-chan? I would _not_ do that!"

"Oh Maki-chan, how indecent- Ow, hey!" Maki had taken the opportunity to whack Nico over the head with her plush self, burning scarlet at such insinuations. "I am not that violent."

"Uh huh." Now that she could think a bit more clearly though, there was one question she wanted to ask. "Oh, Nico-chan."

"Hmm?"

"Why did they have pillows with us on them behind the counter?" Nico nearly choked.

* * *

"Maki-chan!" Rin experienced a lot of feelings on a day to day basis, most of them pretty good, but one she wasn't used to was feeling nervous. Yet nervous was exactly what she was as she caught up to Maki after class ended. It was her time to shine, and she doubted she'd ever been under so much pressure. "Let's eat lunch together!"

"Uh, alright." Maki turned back to the classroom, but Hanayo was already gone, which was weird. She and Rin always ate together. "Is Hanayo not joining us?"

"Nya? She's, uh, eating with the second years today." The two of them had agreed that it would be fairer if Rin got to talk to Maki alone, but she interpreted Maki's question differently than it was intended. It only made her more nervous that Hanayo would be immediately brought up when she was the one asking Maki to lunch. Was Hanayo on Maki's mind right now? It would make sense, though. Hanayo was such a sweet and caring person: of course Maki would want someone like that. Now she was getting a weird look, so she forced the thought out of her mind in order to pay better attention. "So let's go!" By now Maki was starting to get used to being dragged out of the school.

They sat together on a bench just outside the school, pulling out their lunches and beginning to dig in. Now was the perfect time to say something, but for once Rin was at a loss for what to say. It had been a lot easier when she wasn't thinking about it, but now it was kind of impossible not to. What would Umi, the strict and focused spirit of Lily White, say at a time like this?

 _"Th-That is absolutely shameful!"_

"Wah, that's no help at all, Umi-chan!"

"Umi?" Maki stared at Rin with a confused expression on her face. Wait, did she say that out loud? Whoops. "What about her?"

"Ahaha, nothing, nothing!"

"It didn't sound like nothing."

"Oh, uh, well, you see, ahahah... Nya?" Maki was giving her that look, that one that meant she was getting irritated. This was probably the worst time to push her buttons. "Okay, so Umi-chan just gave me some advice, right? But it wasn't very helpful." Well, a characterized version of Umi, but that was _technically_ true. Maki didn't seem convinced, but ended up just shaking her head and going back to her food. She had dodged a bullet there, but now what?

Maybe she was overthinking it. She had talked to Maki just fine before, even when the seeds of a crush had started to grow. The problem now was that it was the only thing she could think about, and it was messing her up. She needed to just loosen up and let her heart lead her. It'd gotten her this far, after all.

"Hey, Maki-chan?"

"Hmm?" Maki turned to glance at Rin, who pushed her fork into her bento box and pulled out a tomato.

"You can have my tomato if you want, Maki-chan. I couldn't eat another bite." Well, she could, and she probably would the moment Maki's back was turned, but this was for the cause. Maki seemed a bit surprised, but slowly nodded with a hint of embarrassment on her cheeks. That embarrassment was further multiplied when Rin moved the fork closer to her mouth.

"R-Rin, I can feed myself!"

"Aww, but Rin wants to feed Maki-chan!" She gave Maki a toothy grin, watching as the redhead's resolve began to waver. How did she come up with such flawless ideas?

"Ah fine, geez." With her face slowly turning the same color as her hair, Maki resolved to merely grumble lightly as she parted her lips and allowed Rin to feed her. "I-I still can feed myself, you know."

"Rin knows." That smile was so bright. "Maki-chan is just so cute when she's all flustered."

"R-Rin!"

* * *

Maki was very confused, not to mention unfortunately flustered. The last couple of days had involved her getting a lot of attention from Nico, Hanayo, and Rin, which wasn't that normal of an occurrence. Sure, Hanayo and Rin were the two friends she hung out with the most, since they were in her year and all, and Nico always found a way to be super annoying in her presence, but this felt different. It felt like they were more deliberately trying to get near her. Ah, maybe she was looking too hard into it.

When she got to the clubroom, the only other people inside were Eli and Umi, who were looking over something Umi had written in her notebook. They both looked up and greeted her, which she returned in a more halfhearted way before dropping into an empty chair, still a bit out of sorts.

"Something wrong, Maki?" Apparently her mood was more noticeable than she had wanted. Eli gave her a slightly worried look, while Umi closed the notebook so they could both give her their full attention. Maki was starting to wonder if this just happened to be 'Stare at Maki Week'. Not that their concern was unappreciated, but she was feeling put on the spot. Maybe they'd understand what was going on though. Besides herself, they were the two most sane members of their group, and they might know better why she was getting all this attention.

"No, but… I've been getting a strange amount of attention from Rin, Hanayo, and Nico-chan, and I don't know why." Slivers of understanding appeared in their eyes, and she could feel hope rising in her chest. Maybe they really did have an idea of what was going on.

"That might explain it then," Umi mused, rubbing her chin in thought. "Whenever Lily White discusses the rest of Muse, Rin never fails to mention you. Well, you and ramen."

"Wait, you talk about all of us?"

"Nozomi."

"Of course."

"And I think Nico's always had a thing for you." Okay, so maybe this was actually 'Make Maki's Face Perpetually Red' week. Letting out a strangled groan at Eli's words, she pushed a hand into her face, trying to quell the flames bursting around her cheeks. This was ridiculous. They must be exaggerating with their words. She just needed to make sure...

"A-A _thing_ for me?!"

"You haven't noticed?" Eli cocked her head to the side and gave Maki a funny look. "I just thought it was obvious." Apparently not. Why was this obvious? Why would they have such an… _intimate_ interest in her? She had never even thought about in that way, but now that it was put in her mind, she was seeing the past two days in a much different light. It wasn't supposed to be so warm in the room, was it?

"Wh-What about Hanayo then?" She was the only one of the three to not be mentioned, but both of them shrugged, neither of them having interacted with Hanayo enough to truly know her feelings on the matter.

"Why don't you ask Kotori about it?" Umi suggested. "If anyone would know, she would."

"Yeah, I guess I might as well." Perhaps Kotori held the last piece of this mystery, which was starting to reveal itself in a very surprising and frankly embarrassing way. Were Eli and Umi right? Did Nico and Rin like her? She didn't know how to feel about that just yet. Embarrassed? Flattered? Maybe both. Now Eli and Umi were looking at her with smiles on their faces. "Wh-What?"

"Our little Soldier is growing up and getting her first crushes." Eli smiled sweetly, and if Maki thought she couldn't get any redder, she was sorely mistaken.

"Y-You don't know if that's what's happening!" Their faces said otherwise, and she resolved to just hide her own face in her hands. Was this really happening to her? "Ugh, j-just tell me where Kotori is."

"She's in the Home Ec room." Maki nodded her thanks to Umi and stood up, quickly heading for the exit before they could tease her anymore about the situation. "Just try not to burn it down this time."

"Sh-Shut up, Umi!"

* * *

Maki had to be careful when around the Home Ec room. While there was technically no way for a school to ban someone from a class, she had been dangerously close to being the first, loathe as she was to remember that. Peering in through the door's window, she indeed found Kotori inside, sitting at the sewing machine. When she entered the room, she could hear Kotori humming softly as she worked, having yet to notice the new presence. "Uh, hey Kotori."

Kotori turned around, smiling when she noticed who it was. "Hey Maki-chan! Need something?"

"Yeah, uh…" She began to twirl her hair around a finger, suddenly feeling nervous about bringing the subject up. If she did, then there was a chance it would be confirmed as true, and she would need to do something about it. What was she supposed to do, though? Was she ready for that? Well, she'd already come here, so it would be rude to just turn around and leave. "Has Hanayo ever talked to you about me?"

Kotori's eyes instantly lit up with recognition. "Oh! Hehe, well no, but it's obvious, isn't it?" Was this just obvious to everyone but her? When she took too long to come up with a response, Kotori stood up and made her way over, patting Maki reassuringly on the shoulder. "I don't think she's told anyone, Maki-chan, but I've noticed her eyes light up when she's near you." She sighed wistfully, either not noticing or ignoring the return of Maki's never-ending blush. "You should ask her about it, though."

"I-I don't know if I can do that."

"Why not? It's no good to leave things unspoken forever, Maki-chan." Fair enough. Kotori was right, but that didn't mean that Maki had to like where this was going. There was only one way to get to the bottom of it, though, which meant that she would have to get all three of them in one place and question them. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

"Hey Maki-chan! What's-"

"Roof. Now." There was no time to delay. Next day's lunch break was here, and Maki wanted to do this before she ended up chickening out. So as quick as she could she gathered up Nico, Rin, and Hanayo and ushered them up to the roof, where all three of them now stood with matching looks of uncertainty.

"Maki-chan, is something wrong?" Hanayo had a look of concern in her eyes now. This was probably not going to stop everyone from constantly looking at her, but it was too late to back out now. Even if she wanted to, Rin would certainly catch her before she could escape. Her eyes drifted over to the roof railings. … No, probably not a good idea.

"No. Yes? I don't know." She was starting to feel nervous: too nervous. If what she was being led to believe was false, then it would be easy enough to play off, but if it was true... Then what? Admittedly, the thought both scared and intrigued her. It wasn't something she could pretend to be familiar with, but each of them were her friends, and they did make her happy… Wait, what was she thinking? "You've all been acting strange around me. I want to know what's going on."

The three of them looked at each other, then back at Maki. "Strange? Nope, nothing strange has been happening at all. You're crazy, Maki-chan." Despite these oh-so-believable words, Maki could see sweat beginning to form on Nico's forehead, and her eyes whipped back and forth between Rin and Hanayo, who both looked visibly nervous. Yeah, not strange in the least.

"Hanayo." Hanayo squeaked in surprise at being called on, while her two coherts found their vision snapping over to her. The pressure was on. "Please just tell me what is going on."

"A-Ah, uh, a-ah..." She stumbled over her words, wringing her hands together. It was a lot easier to talk about your crush to two fellow Navigators than to your crush herself. "W-Well, you see..."

"We were having a competition." Hanayo's shocked eyes found Nico, who had decided to take the heat off of Hanayo and put it squarely on herself. How brave. Maki raised an eyebrow at those words.

"A competition? For what?"

"To, uh… you know, to… to see which one of us you like the best."

"... Oh." So it was true, then. Maki had no idea what to say, just thankful that the rest of Muse wasn't coming up here. Otherwise they'd find four girls just standing there staring at each other with various shades of red on their faces. Now she needed to do something. This was serious, right? It seemed serious. It was probably serious. She needed more time. A few days, perhaps, or a couple years.

"D-Do you like any of us, Maki-chan?" She didn't even have a minute. Rin had never sounded this shy before. It didn't sound right coming from her. Of course she liked them, though. They all were her friends after all. Then again, she knew that wasn't quite what Rin meant by that. Okay, she needed to really think this through.

She had never been in a relationship before, and wasn't even sure she wanted to be in one. At the same time, she couldn't deny that there was something rather nice about each of them: Hanayo's adorable passion, Rin's energy, and Nico's... Well, Nico was Nico. There was something challenging about her at least, and for once that wasn't meant as an insult. They wanted her to choose, though.

Choosing one of them would hurt the other two's feelings, wouldn't it? Choosing none wouldn't leave anyone happy. What the hell was she supposed to do? Her eyes slowly ran over each of them, biting her lip nervously as she tried to see if maybe one of them specifically stood out as someone she could imagine going on a date with. Nico? Hanayo? Rin? ...All three of them? That was extremely unconventional, but then again, things had not been particularly conventional ever since she'd joined up with Muse.

"Of course I… l-like all of you. What kind of question is that?" She twirled a lock of her hair around her finger, pointedly looking over the railing rather than at any of them. "You're putting it all on me to choose, but we could… I mean, all four of us could go on a… d-date." This was way too embarrassing to say. She couldn't even look at any of them. "It's not, well, _normal_ , but we could still- Ah!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Rin had already bounded over and wrapped her in a tight hug, nearly bowling them both over. "Really, Maki-chan? You really mean it?"

"Y-Yes. Too tight, Rin! Rin!"

"Group hug!"

"Wait wha-" Again with the interruptions. Now there were three girls embracing her, with Hanayo's more tentative hold and Nico's fierce grasp joining the mix. Well, if this was how it was going to be, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She probably still wouldn't admit that, though. At least not yet. A small smile formed on her face as she relaxed in their triple embrace, feeling very content to be where she was. Maybe this would all turn out alright.

They all missed lunch though, and were hungry the rest of the day.


End file.
